An old soul finding her place in life through honesty, humor and photography.

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Tag Archives: Mary Poppins

Thumbs. Most people have two. Some people have funny toes that resemble thumbs. Ok, not people, maybe those are monkeys. Regardless, I should have learned after the zucchini slicing incident of August 2011, which ruined my soaring guitar career, that one can get injured in the kitchen. (Please note, by soaring, I mean I completed my first eight lessons and learned my scales. Ok, I sort of learned a scale.) Still, life goes on, people have barbeques, things need to get done, guests arrive early and parts of my thumb can get cut off in a mandolin. Ouch. Don’t worry folks, I threw away that cucumber.

Besides the fact that anything involving water turned into a pre-planned event, it just hurt. Those stupid finger cot things are great for showering and washing dishes (while avoiding the mandolin at all costs). It is not fun however, when the highlight of your barbeque revolves around you having a tiny condom on your finger. Ok, I’m lying, Continue reading →

I live close to a Simon & Schuster distribution center, which likely has people hauling boxes of books and loading tractor trailers so books can reach the shelves for our grubby hands. Still, I had thought how romantic it would be to work for a big publisher, plus I could probably ride my bike there.

I also want to stop carrying my Mary Poppins purse. It’s more like luggage these days and I could probably help an army of people survive an epic catastrophe with its contents. One of the mainstays of my bag is a book, usually just one, but sometimes two. The weight of this thing is wreaking havoc on my shoulders, so I’ve been seriously considering getting the Nook.

I like the idea of the Nook better than the Kindle because I can borrow from the library still or purchase books at different stores, rather than being stuck to Amazon.com with the Kindle. I like the idea of having something light and portable, and let’s face it; I could become a greedy American and shout “More is better!”. Why I would need to carry 1,000 books is beyond me, but maybe it would be cool to read whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and without hauling a pallet of books in tow.

Like most things in life, I’m torn between my appreciation for the old-fashioned or traditional ways but also for how technology can make things so easy. I certainly don’t want to put Simon & Schuster employees out of work but I also want to keep my shoulders from separating from the rest of my body. In all honesty, I don’t care if I had one book at a time on the darned thing but new shiny things can be appealing too. I take that back, it is not shiny; its matte screen is anti-glare for reading in the sun.

Another factor seems to be that it seems easier to find eBooks by our favorite authors online than in print. Publishers are pushing us toward eBooks because their overhead is drastically minimized from the print options. They also have the ability to use the force of technology to push additional advertising and multimedia on us with the click of the mouse.

We will see what happens. For avid readers, there is something special about holding a book and the musty library scent or the fresh smell of printing ink. If only the Nook was made in America, this decision would feel a heck of a lot easier.